Tuesday, December 27, 2016

I
once applied for a job as a bingo caller. I thought I would be brilliant at it.
Legs Eleven! Two ducks swimming! Add in a little bit of nudge,
nudge, wink, wink, and Bob’s your Monkey's Uncle. I auditioned....and I didn’t get the job. I was
not so secretly gutted. Ever since then bingo has been associated with pain and
disappointment.

But
I will overcome all that to play………………… Reading Bingo 2016!!!

To
put my game into context, this year I have read 86 books (so far- you’re not
over yet 2016). I work in a library which, for this non sugar eating
bibliophile is exactly the equivalent to being a kid in a lolly shop. Better
even. Library books are free! Greedy, greedy me can’t keep my mits off them. (As
I work in the children’s area many books I read this year were junior boks.
You can read about them over here.)

Both
books over 500 pages that I read this year were by Jonathan Franzen. But I am
nominating "Purity" because I read on my e-reader at the beach and, in fact, had no idea how many pages it was. May not have read it if I did!

So.
Purity. Like all Franzen, it’s cutting, tongue in cheek funny at time, (but at
other times the tongue is made of sharpened steel and hurts!) and the tale is
all so global, intertwined and complicated. I love the way he tells stories and
extrapolates so much from a narrative - all these wonderful glistening threads
that he pulls out and curls and plaits and crimps. I enjoy his insight into
relationships and his astute observations of families. This book riffs on the
cult of celebrity in the age of the internet and on the morals of being a good
person and I found it all riveting. For over 500 (unbeknownst) pages.

Next
up we have….a Tristram Shandy. A forg-austen. An Edward G Robinson.

Or
simply – A Forgotten Classic.

Working
in the Library this year, I was pretty excited about new books. The slippery
shiny stainless springy spined selection of stories. This year over half of the
books I read were published in the last year. The closest to forgotten classic
I think I can get is "The Idea of Perfection" by Kate Grenville­­. Winner of the
Orange Prize in 2001 this is impressive writing. Bristling description, complex
characters, large themes, honest insight, subtle observation and masterful
control of narrative. A reminder of the treasure she is. Do you pay that?

Girl on the Train Book
to Film Hit.The book that Became a MOVIE.

"Danny the Champion of the World" by Roald Dahl. This year celebrated the 100th anniversary of Roald Dahl's birth. I read Danny The Champion of the World" aloud to my kids. They were perplexed because essentially the protagonists are committing a crime - poaching pheasants - and in these days of political correctness hunting pheasants, stealing pheasants, worshipping an adult who breaks the law and the concept of rich land owners are all perplexing ideas for most kids. But at the heart of this book is a prental bond that knowns no bounds and a community that bonds together to make fools of the rich. What's not to like?

Next up is wooh wooh (I'm blowing on my fingers here) hot off the presses. Hot potatoes. I want some hot stuff baby this evening.

A book Published this Year -

My choice HAS to be "Museum
of Modern Love" by Heather Rose. Just finished this book yesterday. It floored
me. It infiltrated my dreams and I could barely stop raving to everyone about it all Christmas day. This
is an ambitious work of faction (okay I probably made that word up but it’s a
short cut…bear with me) based around the performance art piece The Artist Is Present by Maria
Abromavic. This book could have been pretentious drivel. Instead it is a moving
treatise to the artist, to why humans create and share, to how we love and fail
and love again. It is a book that explores the human condition on various
levels. It is alive with inspiration and challenges the reader with ideas and
insights. This book will win all the prizes in 2017 including the stella or I
will eat my crocheted poncho. Really seriously impressive stuff.

We're at Farenheit 451 now people . It's One
Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish - Book with Number in the Title...

Granta
135 New Irish Writing. Oh I am a sucker for an Irish turn of phrase. This
collection had some authors I already knew and loved like Kevin Barry and Colm
Toibin but also had me clamouring to find out more about the many authors I
discovered and who bowled me over. Colin Barrett! Sara Baume! Sally Rooney! Donal Ryan - lovely to
meet you.Memorable gems in here.

What
are the odds of reading two books in the one year that have sentient squirrels?
The Portable Veblen and Flora and Ulyssus both had enlightened squirrels. Most junior fiction I read always includes at least one memorable dog per bookand H is for Hawk delves into the majesty and
mystery of falconry and the power of a relationship with a bird of prey.

But my
favourite book with a non human character would have to be, “Confessions of anImaginary Friend.” By Michelle Cuevas. Jacques Papier didn’t know he was
imaginary. He just thought everyone, including his parents, didn’t like him. In
this memoir we follow Jacques as he discovers he doesn’t really exist and
through the resulting existential angst, self-doubt and confusion that, in the
end, leads him to where he truly belongs and which is all truly very human.

LOL My Funny Valentine. A Funny book!

Easily the funniest book I have read in a long time is "Dead Men Don’t Order Flake". By Sue Williams. I
was lucky enough to get a signed copy at the launch. The way Sue writes about a small Australian country town, Rusty Bore, is so wry, so true, so warm and so hilarious. The good news is she is working on the third novel in this series. This book is genuinely, embarrassingly laugh out loud funny. And not just because of the leopard print g strings and ferrets.

Next up we have the George
Eliot Schmeliot.

Book
By Female Author.

Yeah…what?
Out of 86 books I read this year 66 were by female authors. For the past few
years I have undertaken the Australian Women Writers Challenge (and so should you - click on the link and sign up!) and aimed to
read more local female authors. But to tick this bingo box (does that sound
rude?) I’m going with “The Glorious Heresies” by Lisa McInerney, 2016 Bailey’s
prize winner, a prize for women authors.

Strangely I haven’t seen much buzz
about this book and yet it is monumentally good - a mesmerising tale – a spirograph
narrative of intersecting lives that loops with the pull of Irelands’ past and
powerful religiosity and darts forward with an exploration of post GFC Ireland.
It is about how connections to others are unavoidable, can bring damnation, but
how the bonds can also bring salvation. McInereny inhabits different
characters with such depth and scope it is breathtaking. And the language is electric!
Read it.

Oh
this book has a few tricks up it’s sleeve. Wonderfully playful unreliable
narrator and mystery. A masterpiece.

The
Power of One - Book
with a One Word Title

"Autumn" by Ali Smith. This is one of my favourite books of the year. Ali Smith wrote this quickly
and it is so relevant it is searing with heat. Post Brexit England, Pythonesque bureaucracy,
Shakespearian dreams, antique hunting reality shows and the wonderful forgotten
art of Pauline Boty written with warmth and wit this book is a stunner.

Short and sweet. Who wants some strawberry shortcake?

Book of Short Stories

"Hey Yeah Right Get a Life" by Helen Simpson. This is the sort of short story writing that makes
you never want to attempt short story writing ever again. Too good.

It's a lucky one next. It's get
out of jail free card. FREE SQUARE

I
have to include "LaRose" by Lousie Erdrich. A book that destroys your heart and gradually
remakes it. A book about indigenous wisdom that seems like madness, about
community and the past haunting the present. About grief and revenge. About
everything. On the second page I closed the book and wondered if I could go on.
I did. And it was worth it. Sometimes I felt I couldn’t breathe with the pain
expressed on the pages and at other times it became wondrously, delightfully
pedestrian. In the end it is a celebration of endurance: of cultures threatened
by colonisation, of hearts broken, of lives destroyed, of grief and guilt and punishment.
Ultimately it is about forgiveness.

Next we set sail to a World
Apart. There be dragons. Book set on a different continent.

Most
books I read were set on a different continent. In fact if you want figures (I draw the line at graphs), 70 of the 86 were set on a different continent to the one I am on. So I will take my pick.

And
my pick is the Booker shortlisted “Hot Milk” by Deborah Levy because the sense
of place is astonishingly well conveyed and because it is a brilliant book.

Okay, so everyone is raving about it. I know. But it is so good. The best
mother daughter relationship I have ever read, dreamlike, dense with meaning, buoyant with
humour and weighted with insight.

Next up is, There’s
a fraction to much fiction.

Book
of Non Fiction

“Gut: The Inside Story of our Most Underrated Organ”
by Guilia Enders is completely enlightening and so important – from the mouth
to the poohing, who knew the guts were where it all matters the most – that’s
right. Get to the guts of it. This book is scientific, accessible, entertaining
and important. Reading this will change how and what you eat….and how you pooh.
You will never take your intestines for granted ever again.

Next
in your best Julie Andrews voice it's do re me. Start at the very beginning.

First
Book of a Favourite Author.

One
of the best reads of last few years was Karen Joy Fowler's “We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves.”
In the libraryone day I spied Karen Joy Fowler’s first book
"Sarah Canary".

It is 1879 west coast America. A mute woman in black appears in
the forest. A Chinese man, Chin, is ordered to take her far away. They are
locked up in an insane asylum and then escape, taking an inmate with them,
BJ. They meet Harold who has a fake mermaid and Adelaide, a suffragette. This
is a dreamy, mysterious road story, a retelling of the Wizard of Oz that is wild and weird. It is
interspersed with true histories of strangeness and wonder and each chapter
begins with Emily Dickenson. A book with great momentum and scope. Utterly
absorbing.

Ooh ooh I heard
it through the grapevine – heard about it
online.

Shame there isn’t a category – "Heard about it while walking the dog
" because there are a few of them on my list of books this year.

A
trickier category would be “What didn’t I hear about online?”

How
do I hear about books? Personal recommendations in the library, friends, book
reviews and the radio. But mostly, increasingly, it is online. Goodreads. Twitter. Lists. Shortlists. Longlists. And that is how I found "The Portable Veblem" by Elizabeth McKenzie.

Don't be put off by the talking squirrels. this books is magnificent, generous, insightful, though provoking, heart warming and grand.

Ca-ching - ca-ching! Money money money, must be funny, in a rich man's world - BEST SELLING BOOK

I have always wanted to
read "The Psychopath Test"since hearing an interview with the author Jon Ronson years ago on Radio National.
Two things to say about this. The book is riveting. I am not a psychopath.

BOOK
BASED ON A TRUE STORY There's a fraction too much faction...

“Orphans of the Carnival” By Carol Birch. I am a Carol Birch fan as of about five minutes ago –
see later categories- and this was her greatly anticipated new release! But
alas, it is a bit disappointing. Based on the true story of Julia Pastrana, a world
famous freak show performer in the 1800s who suffered from two conditions – one which
caused extreme hairiness and another that thickened her lips and gums giving
her an ape-like face. She married her manager but died in childbirth, along
with the baby. The manager then had her and the child preserved and stuffed and
continued to exhibit her. Yeah. I know.

This
book never took off, perhaps too bogged down in the facts. Julia never seemed
to have much depth as a character- other than being really sweet and nice. Her
manager/husband was a more interesting character but much of the book was a transparent
attempt to justify his later actions – embarrassingly transparent. Exposition
in dialogue, hackneyed back stories. It was gauche and disappointing.

Okay everyone! Lets
play Jenga. Or Stacks on.

A book at the bottom of your reading pile.

I
have been meaning to read Jane Gardam for years and years. Finally I did. And
now I plan to read as much as I can get. I read “God on the Rocks” A book small
but huge; so tightly wound and precise like an exquisite time piece. Words fail
me.

The BFF
book award. A book your friend loves and now you love too.

Recommendations
from friends are often through the online portal of goodreads or twitter or
email. And let’s admit it. Some of those friends are not friends. I have never
met them, never had a drink with them, never borrowed money from them or lent
them a frock, never shared a taxi home or helped them move house. So they don’t
really qualify as friends. And some goodread friends are more like the
recipient of my stalking. Confession time. I stalk good readers. Sometimes this leads to
friendship. Other times to court orders. (Just joking.) One of those is AnnabelSmith author and voracious reader. Through her I discovered “The Life and Deathof Sophie Stark” by Anna North.

It’s a modern, cinematic book about the
necessarily parasitic nature of creating art, the opportunistic hunger inherent
in genius, the power of interpreting some one else’s story, questioning who
owns a story and can truth be found through a camera lens. Told from various points
of view we ask all the way through who is Sophie Stark?"I thought making movies
would make me more like other people," said Sophie. "But sometimes I
think it just makes me even more like me."

Goosebumps time. A book that Scares you.

"City of Bohane" by Kevin Barry. The
violence is visceral. The language is poetry. It is like a futuristic Peaky
Blinders written by a time travelling James Joyce.Sweet.

Next we have - An
oldie but a goodie.

A
book that is more than ten years old

"Little Sister" by Carol Birch. I discovered Carol Birch books this year while shelving
in the library. “Jarmach’s Menagerie” had a grandiose recommendation on the
cover by none other than A S Byatt. So I read it. It was terrific! So I grabbed
“Little Sister” and read that too. She is a terrific writer – language that is
descriptive, perceptive and memorable. This book explores grief and a toxic
sibling relationship where the notorious little sister haunts her older sister’s
every move.

Oh and we are almost there folks! It's Always
the bridesmaid and never the bride. Second Book in a series.

“FridayBarnes Under Suspicion” by R A Spratt. This series for kids bristles with
cleverness. So smart and entertaining. Recommend them for ten years and over.

And last but not least, please don't tell me that it's over, it's Am
I too Blue for you Book with a Blue Cover

Many
books seem to have blue covers. But I will have to go with another junior fiction because it's one of the best books I read this year. "Wonder" by RJ Palacio

A
junior fiction book about Augie, born with severe facial deformities and always
protected from the world by his family until now, when they want him to attend
normal middle school. Wonder tells the story of that year from different points
of views, including Augie’s voice. It’s a big bear hug squeeze of a book that swells
the heart and makes you cry on the tram.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

It's like a long distance endurance event. And, well, I honestly didn't think I'd make it. In the beginning I was so motivated for the Australian Women's Writers Challenge. Pumped up. Nimble. Been in training for two years on smaller challenges. Ready for to go for it!

My mistake was to gorge myself on the Stella Longlist (see last post) at the beginning of the year. And it was all too rich, too much the same, too fatty, too dense and I wanted to puke.
SO MANY BOOKS ABOUT BAD MOTHERS AND IMMIGRANT PARENTS CLIMATE CHANGE AND HIPPY COMMUNES!!!!! Why????

Any Australian writer wanting to write about a mother daughter relationship should be first made to read "Hot Milk" by Deborah Levy and "The Portable Veblen" by Elizabeth McKenzie.

These are the recent contemporary books I read.

Anchor Point Alison RobinsonThe World Without Us Michelle JuchauNight Street by Kristal Thornell This was at least different to the other contemporary books I was reading. The imagining of the life of painter Clarice Clift. The language replected the visuals very well. I like the paintings.
And for something completely different and utterly enjoyable I read and reviewed Dead Men Don't Order Flake by Sue Williams. Worth reading for the ferrets and the laughs. Yes. That's right. Ferrets.

My reading list has been huge and so satisfying this year thanks to my employment in a library with a terrific collection. I soon forgot all about Australian Women Writers while I submerged myself in international literature very happily thanks very much. However my job is in Children's Library services so I did have to read some Young Adult and Junior Fiction and here's where I went back to some Australian Women authors.

Green Valentine By Lili Wilkinson is a whimsical Young Adult tale with environmental tips, fast moving comic plot with enough gravitas to give it weight and enough romance to keep it ticking along. Nothing surprising here but it certainly delivers.

The Summer of Angus Jack by Jen Storer.
Jen is one of my favourite children's author. I highly recommend the Truly Tan and Danny Best Series and her picture book "Clarie's Pig Day Out" never fails to have the kids in fits of giggles. You might have a fart attack!
Angus Jack is for older readers - around 12 years. The book is bursting with mystery and magic.
If you are interested in writing for children then Jen is your go to girl for tips. Check out her website girl and duck. for all sorts of advice.

Iris and the Tiger by Leanne Hall
It has to be said - this book has THE BEST COVER!!! Thanks to the wonderful and talented artist Sandra Eterovic.
Again - for readers 10 plus. This book is set in Spain in an strange old house and it delves head long into the world of surreal art and I liked that a lot. I questioned the plot many times but the playful fun and games of the infusion of surreal elements kept me hooked.

Cicada Summer by Kate Constable Eloise is a grieving girl who has lost her mother and her voice and is dumped with a cranky grandmother she doesn't know. She explores the old abandoned house that once belonged to her grandmother and which her father has great plans to develop. But she finds when she is there that time slips. Who is the little girl she meets there? Could it be her own mother as a child? And what will make her find her voice again?

Okay so here I am finding another trend in these two books of junior fiction. Duplicitous greedy fathers. Hmmm.

So 10 books of the 80 books I have read this year have been by Australian Women Writers. I've shuffled to the end of the challenge - kind of skipped and cartwheeled along with the junior fiction and crossed the finish line.

The challenge is on again. And I will be there. This is an important venture to rectify the gender imbalance in mainstream reviewing with 70% books reviewed being by male authors. With my job and busy life I haven't done the challenge justice in 2016 and hope to be better, read better and review better in 2017.

The stella longlist is a like a platter of canapes to those
doing the Australian Women Writers challenge. Afterall, here are the top books
by Australian women writers for the last year. Naturally I stuck my hand out to
the passing plate and stuffed my gob. The result? Well to be honest I’ve
overindulged on a string of reading that may have been made with different recipes but
all used essentially the same ingredients. And I’m afraid I've got indegestion. Burp.
Hiccup. I’ve developed an intolerance to frustrated artistic
mothers, mean mothers, teen girl point of view, hints of climate change and frankly I’m
allergic to even traces of hippy communes.

And that is not to say the books are not good. They are! Just
not to be taken all at once. And yet – what does it say? Is it coincidence?
Are these themes so
central to female concerns? Is it about writing the past?Writing as therapy? Working out issues? Is it zeitgeist? Fashion? Trend?

Let’s look at the books I have read from the long list so
far:

"The Other side of The World" by Stephanie Bishop – so devastating and beautifully
written. Of all of the books this has been the most affecting and interestingly
did not make it to the Stella shortlist. This book broke my heart. It was written
with great tenderness toward the central characters – a couple at odds in their idea of
happiness and their needs. A couple that
can’t work it out for reasons of origin, identity, cultural background,
ambition and the times. Central to the book is a frustrated artist mother, an
immigrant to Australia, who is, at times, mean, neglectful and frustrated. Several
times I flinched and wanted to avert my gaze from seeing elements of myself. The
ending I found so sad I actually re imagined the whole thing in my head to erase
the heavy helplessness that descended on me. This one is distinct in that it is
set in the 50’s/early 60’s.

For the first third (?) of the book the POV is
that of a child/young teenager. A family broken, a mother neglectful mean (yes
another frustrated artist with hippy past) also an immigrant to Australia (German)
who abandons the family. There is a filter of climate change issues washed over
the whole book, set in the bush, in the 80’s through to the future. While the book
moved beyond the bad mother incident, the abandonment was central.A lovely hook to the story was a Hardy-esque secret involving a destroyed letter which has (or should have had) deep consequences.This book
broadens in scope, telling a story over decades, but in doing so many themes and tensions become diluted. The
language was punchy and poetic. I enjoyed elements very much. Yet I still
questioned the central character, plot and motives. There is little joy in this book.

A frustrated artist mother with a hippy commune past who is
mean and neglectful. A dead sister, a teenage POV for part of the book (And I
believe where the book was strongest voice) an immigrant Dad (German again!) and
overtures of climate change. I actually found reading this book like trying to get through dense
brush with a rubber chicken instead of a much needed machete. There is no joy in this book, lots of sadness,
cruelty and loss. Interestingly – it’s on the shortlist, very similat to "Anchor Point" and if I had to pick the better of the too it would be the Alice Robinson book.

A teenage girl POV. A mother daughter relationship full of misunderstanding. And guess what?
A neglectful frustrated mother (although not an artist NOR an immigrant! phew!) )
and a hippy commune. This book is kinder to the mother character, giving her a
voice and past and an interesting technique where the reader is privy to
information that illuminates the reasons why the mother has come to this point in her life while the daughter character remains in the dark – which heightens the tension
and tragedy. Some terrific memorable descriptions and characters.Quite a conventional and accomplished novel. And it's made it to the shortlist.

So that’s my reading of the long list so far and I needed a
break. So I'm reading some international contemporary novels with less description more
substance – also by women writers – and reflecting on why Australain Women
writers are all writing the same book.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Well hello blog. Long time no see. Remember me? Here's a photo in case you've forgotten.

Yes I know. It's been worse than silent here. *crickets * I’m surprised I
have remembered the password let alone how to write a blog post. You’ve been long
neglected dear blog. I don’t expect you to forgive me but it would be great if you could take the time to at least
listen to my excuses.

I got a full time job! Hooray! I’m working in a library
surrounded by books which is just perfect and I also get to do crazy craft with
kids...like this....ninjas and rocket jet pack!

AND sing silly songsAND yes! I even get
paid for it. I know. It’s hard to believe.I love it.

Starting a job after being home with kids for over 9 years has been *ahem* challenging. And I will write more about that...later.

To add to my new roller coaster life there has been the school fete. In the past I have made things for the
Made in Merri craft stall and the enviro stall and shown off my creations
here for you all. This year I made a little...

button necklaces...

pom pom hair bands and clips...

crochet card boxes and bowls...

but I was also one of the dynamic duo of gals
who coordinated the WHOLE SHEBANG!It was huge! An organisational (nightmare) feat! (stay tuned for the sitcom "Fete Mums") But it all came together and we made $70,000 for the school. A great achievement and I was so glad to put in the hard work and be involved.

And just because I wasn’t quite busy enough I also formed a
band to play at the fete. We’re called Best Western and we did a short sharp set
of Country duets.

So yes blog. I’ve been busy! But I’ll try and swing by and
tickle your fancies when I can!